Backup Quarterbacks Can Throw You Off

Nfl

A Closer Look

Dan Marino and Randall Cunningham are gone for the season and Joe Montana and Mark Rypien have been in and out.

As usual, it is tough to keep NFL quarterbacks healthy.

But this season, it has been hard for even healthy quarterbacks to stay in the lineup. The Lions, Buccaneers, Falcons, Colts, Oilers, Browns, Bengals, Raiders and Chargers -- have changed quarterbacks during games for reasons other than injury. Except for the Bengals, who went back to David Klingler after replacing him with Jay Schroeder, all have changed starters at least once.

"My pride is hurt, my ego is hurt," Warren Moon of Houston said this week after coach Jack Pardee named Cody Carlson the starter for the Oilers' game against the Patriots today in Foxboro, Mass.

"I think a lot of people -- fans and in the media -- got what they wanted. I hope they're happy with the switch."

Moon may be down, but only for the moment. He now has the best job in football -- backup quarterback. For as long as the game has been popular, the quarterback not playing has often been more popular than the one who is. When did Phil Simms become a god to Giants fans? When he went to the sideline in 1991, his 13th season with the team.

But not everyone thinks along those lines.

"I have a difficult time using quarterbacks as relief pitchers," Giants coach Dan Reeves said. "There is enough pressure on a quarterback. I just don't believe in jerking people in and out. Over a period of time, if a guy doesn't perform, then you make a change. But a period of time means at least three games, not three quarters."

As offensive coordinator for Dallas in the 1970s and coach for Denver in the '80s, Reeves saw Roger Staubach and John Elway orchestrate one fourth-quarter comeback after another.

"If we did [what so many teams have done this season], Roger Staubach and John Elway never would have won all the games they did in the fourth quarter," Reeves said. "They would have been sitting

over there by me, and some relief pitcher would have been in the ballgame."

Vinny Testaverde of the Browns and Vince Evans of the Raiders have rallied their teams to victories in relief roles this season, but there are few examples of successful quarterbacking-by-committee. Only Don Shula -- who else? -- made it to the Super Bowl without a clear-cut No. 1. In 1982, a strike year, he often replaced his young runner, David Woodley, with his veteran gunner, Don Strock, when the Dolphins fell behind. It was called WoodStrock.

Reeves tried alternating rookie Tommy Maddox and second-year pro Sean Moore each play and nearly pulled off an upset at Buffalo, but that was a desperation strategy used only because Elway was hurt last November.

Generally, the adage is true: When you have two quarterbacks, you need a quarterback, because you really have two backups.

Or, in the case of that mess in Detroit, three backups. Rodney Peete lost his job to Andre Ware, who was replaced in the Lions' last game by Erik Kramer. Peete starts today against Seattle. Though the Lions have won three of five games, coach Wayne Fontes has lost credibility in the chaos.

"There is some self-doubt now," said Lomas Brown, Detroit's All-Pro left tackle. "There has to be some. When you say one thing, people expect you to do it."

The Lions have shown interest in acquiring Moon.

Switching back and forth could put a coach's job in jeopardy. Cleveland's Bill Belichick has pulled Bernie Kosar three times in favor of Testaverde. He finally named Testaverde to start today.

Browns owner Art Modell has backed Belichick publicly, but after signing Kosar to a seven-year contract extension worth $27 million two weeks ago, Modell can't be too happy with the change.

"What Bill did in announcing it was end speculation," Modell said. "I do hope they end the rotation of quarterbacks. That destroys teams."

Shula's backup plan There is no quarterback controversy in Miami. Marino started 145 games in a row and would be making it 146 next week if not for the ruptured Achilles' tendon that ended his season.

Enter Scott Mitchell, who joined the Dolphins as a fourth-round draft pick in 1990. He completed 10 of 16 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns after replacing Marino as Miami (4-1) won at Cleveland, 24-14.

Mitchell (6 foot 6, 230 pounds), a left-handed passer, threw eight passes, completing two for 32 yards, in his first three NFL seasons. In the summer of 1992, the Dolphins loaned him to the Orlando Thunder of the World League, where he won 8 of 10 and helped the team reach the championship game.

"I've felt, ever since then, that if Scott hadn't been behind a Dan Marino, he'd be starting in the NFL," said Galen Hall, who coached Orlando.

"I don't think we're losing a whole lot," Dolphins wide receiver Irving Fryar said. "Scott did a heck of a job [against Cleveland] and he is a good quarterback. If he played somewhere else, he'd have been starting all along."